Thoughts of a Failed CEO
by MuchaLuchaAndMe
Summary: My take on SeptimusMagistos idea. All of his life he was the ruler of the Earth, controlling everything, and he thought he could make things better. But in reality he had only made things worse.


**Well, this is my take on the whole Shelby Forthright, regretting things stuff**

**Well, this is my take on the whole Shelby Forthright, regretting things stuff. I hope SeptimusMagisto doesn't mind.**

**Disclaimer: WALL-E © PIXAR**

**Original Idea © SeptimusMagisto**

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His eyes looked out through that clear window, his mind shaking with thoughts, everything was so crystal clear, yet it was so foggy. What was he supposed to do? Was this the right thing? No… this place… it was dead. There was no life at all. All plants were gone… all oxygen was fading. So if everyone stayed… they'd be dead in only a matter of weeks.

Everything was so horrible. Everything. He thought that if there was only one company, things would be easier. If that company controlled everything, life would just be simpler… but it just made things worse. _Why couldn't he have seen it_? It should have been so easy. But he didn't realize earth was dying until it was too late.

And so he stood there, in the highest skyscraper in the world, stuck in his office, forced to look back on all of his mistakes, everything that he had done that could have prevented this, but he didn't. He couldn't now.

"Sir, it's time for your speech." People would have hated him for making them leave, and he knew this. He wasn't so much afraid of the hate, but the fact that humanity would probably try and stay, but that would kill them. He tried his best to sweeten the deal by giving them all the pleasures any human being could ask for. He tried to make it seem like they wouldn't be gone for to long, that it was only a pleasure cruise. People would be willing to leave then. Go away for a few years, and then come back to a clean earth. It was just a trick. They would adjust to the perfect life, and then never want to come back.

Everyone was a little tired of not being able to breath. In fact, the average age of death actually dropped from 80, to 60 because of these conditions. On these star-liners, they could live to be 100, or even more! So it was a good thing. But… was he really ready to just give up on Earth, and let it die? He had spent so much money on making these… these 'WALL-Es' to make it seem like they were coming back.

But they weren't.

His eyes dashed to the man dressed in a black suit, signaling for him to come out. It was time for him to make the speech, that one big lie, the thing that would seal the deal for humanity. Once he christened the ships, once everyone got on board, everything would be done.

"…Right." He walked out of his room, out of his thoughts. He didn't care if humanity came to hate him. All that mattered now was survival. The human race _cannot_ die, nor will he let it in his reign of supremacy. When he stepped into the elevator, his bodyguards surrounded him; he had no room to breath, to think. So he merely stood there, like a general about to go into war. His face was stern, and his eyes just stared straight forward, ready to take whatever happens. He had only dealt with little wave pools, now it was straight into the tsunami.

The door slid open, a ding was heard, and his group of protectors parted, if only for a second, to let him out. There were two large double doors, and an even larger crowd of people. He swung them open and stepped outside onto a stage. He walked over to the podium set before him, and spoke into the microphone.

"People of Earth, I come to you today for the lift-off of our five year cruise. Today is a marvelous occasion, for while you are gone, we will be busy at work, cleaning up our Earth." Lies. They weren't going to fix this. They couldn't. "This garbage is not a problem. It will done and over before you know it!" More lies. The garbage is a problem. It won't be gone, not ever. "So please, enjoy your stay on our many cruises! We'll be waiting to welcome you back." But nobody would be waiting, nobody at all. If somebody were to wait, all that you would come back to is the body of a dead man. When did the lies stop?

Actually… they would never stop. In fact, the only time he would tell the truth was in secret, so only the Autopilots could hear. What kind of truth is that? It wasn't. So he was a liar. He was going to kill a planet with lies. It was all he had ever done. Lie. Stepping back inside his building, he would have cried from shame. But his eyes stayed unwavering, only showing happiness and excitement, trying to prove to the world that nothing was wrong. And as humanity was guided to the ships of which they would spend the rest of their lives, he watched with a saddened soul.

"Sir…"

"I know." He and his bodyguards walked away, into a small room. He needed to look after all humans, and in order to do that he needed to make sure they never came back. And he had the power. All of the power in the world. But he wasn't going to live forever, nor did he want to, so he decided his power was to tell the next most powerful thing of what to do.

The Autopilots.

Yes, some may think that they weren't that important except for being a big wheel, but the captain sure wasn't going to do anything. He would probably become just as wrapped up in the pleasures of these ships. So he gave the pilots directive A113. They would become the protectors of the human race.

All doubts, worries and fears were pushed to the back of his mind. It was too late. There was nothing more he could do. He might have been able to save everyone's home if he just made different decisions, or just a different lifestyle this would never be happening. As he gave the command only those saviors would hear, there was one last kick he needed to give.

"Well, gosh darn it all it seems that the earth isn't able to sustain any life."

"Sir, it's time to go."

"Right… well, let's get out of here" He tried to make it as cold sounding as he could, he wanted it to seem like the planet was completely dead. He didn't want the Autopilots to hint any sadness, and then develop a mind of their own, and decide to bring the ship back, only to be greeted by death. So he would be known as a cold-hearted man. But that was what it took, and that was what he was going to do. Slipping the gas mask over his face, it was the first time he had actually had a breath of air that he felt like wasn't choking him.

Walking out, he joined the crowd of people boarding those ships. The Axiom was his new home. No… it wasn't a home, it was just a disguise, hiding his shame, masking his mistakes. The mistakes he, and everyone else, would have to live with. And when he finally stepped on board, he came to the tallest point of the ship, and looked down to the trash covered Earth. He looked down at the multiple WALL-Es as they worked, and he watched as they were being shut down.

He closed his eyes as he felt the ship rumble. He could still stop it, he could still go back, and he could try and save it. This was now or never. He felt the ship lift off the ground, and he looked at the small group of people that decided to be the 'welcoming' group. They were going to die to save their kind, and for that, he saluted them. True heroes, unlike him, but nobody would ever know. And as The Axiom started to break out of the worlds atmosphere, he realized something; A realization that broke his heart. He, Shelby Forthright, had failed, and he could never fix it.

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**For the first time in my life, I have nothing really to say in my A/N. So comment on what you think. Oh, and this story is just my take on SEPTIMUSMAGISTOS idea. SO DON'T SUE ME. I AM NOT ORIGINAL. I JUST NEEDED SOMETHING TO WRITE.**


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